Dingo on the changing seasons of his musical life

William Alexander on his new album, Along the Boundary Line

From the Central West of New South Wales, William Alexander [https://www.williamalexandermusic.com/] won his first Golden Guitar earlier this year in the category of Bush Ballad of the Year, for the song ‘Wild Roan Brumby’, which he wrote with his good friend Pete Denahy. For those of us who have observed Alexander’s career, and listened to his releases starting in 2023, there was no surprise in the award itself – only in the fact that it had taken so long. For three years may not seem like much, but when the talent is as evident as it is in this artist, it feels like more than enough for recognition to mature. In the songs on his latest album, Along the Boundary Line, Alexander has a way of writing about life and work on the land that suggests someone who not only observes and feels and thinks but can articulate the result of all of that. He’s alert to the world, in other words, and curious about it too. Not that he’s always recorded his own songs: he began by releasing cover versions. ‘I just always felt like I hadn’t earned the right to be the songwriter yet,’ he tells me in this new interview. ‘I was too busy discovering old songs and absorbing that.’ In Along the Boundary Line Alexander creates songs in a traditional style that cover aspects of modern life, marrying a way of life that is much older with contemporary concerns. It’s almost a juxtaposition, until you realise he’s likely documenting his own experiences. As an example: ‘All I Stand to Lose’, which was a single, is about the push and pull of having the urge to go roaming yet cherishing what’s at home, and is the acme of bittersweetness. Yet Alexander doesn’t linger there, instead moving onto the jaunty ‘Horse and Hobble Days’, and both songs are alive with detail.  Alexander is also a wonderful singer, both recorded and live, a balladeer who is also a crooner. When I ask him about his voice in our recent chat, he says, ‘I think what you're mentioning is probably just the way I was told to speak as a kid.’ He had, he says, a grandfather who insisted on no mumbling, and it’s ‘coming through in the way I sing’. Along the Boundary Line was recorded largely with just Alexander and producer Lindsay Waddington in the room first, building each song before adding esteemed players including Brendan Radford, Jen Mize and Michel Rose. The result is a collection of songs that immediately allow the listener in and invite them back. Although there’s a distinct lack of yodelling – something that featured on his first album, The Singing Stockman – which I ask him about. They haunt you, these new songs, in the way that they put you in the landscape with its space and silence and also its sounds and the life that’s humming all around you yet not always evident to the eye. That’s achieved through the production, sure, but it all starts with the artist’s intention – with the stories he has to tell and the way he wants to tell them.  The album is an outstanding work. It was a pleasure to talk to Alexander about those songs, and much more.  Buy Along the Boundary Line on Bandcamp [https://williamalexander1.bandcamp.com/] Listen to Along the Boundary Line on Apple Music [https://music.apple.com/au/album/along-the-boundary-line/1882285095?itscg=30200&itsct=music_box_link&ls=1&app=music&mttnsubad=1882285095&at=1001lryz] Listen to Along the Boundary Line on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/album/2OzOwzHy6m7oXUiJNvL6vL?si=1HmugVSxRhGRFEOV0w9cHg] Listen to Along the Boundary Line on YouTube [https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mW7IKgQVF-Dv95web81duYuTYxeKdw0Ks&si=6uq7yr0bmFtAVtgL] For more Sunburnt Country Music: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/sunburntcountrymusic/] Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/sunburntcountrymusic]  YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@sunburntcountrymusic] website [https://sunburntcountrymusic.com/]  Substack [https://sunburntcountrymusic.substack.com] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Dingo on the changing seasons of his musical life

Towards the end of my first ever interview with Brandon Dodd, who records under the name Dingo [https://www.dingomusicofficial.com/] (he’s released music under both, including the 2020 album What a Way to Die and Dingo and the Rising River in 2024), I realised that I’d seen him play a solo set right before the pandemic closed the nation, and world, down. Because the pandemic changed the shape of time – or so it seemed – and somewhat made life into a washing machine, I completely forgot about that set until he mentioned playing support for Patty Griffin. For it was at a Griffin show at Angel Place in Sydney that I saw him play, and thought he was terrific, and also wondered how long we might still be able to go to live shows. The answer, of course, came quickly after, and for two years there would be very little live music. Dingo was not idle during that time, nor has he been since, whether making his own music or helping others make theirs. Recently his name has been coming up more and more frequently as a producer, of the exceptional emerging artist Faith Williams and the beloved star Beccy Cole, amongst others; he works out of Rabbit Hole Recording Studio on the Central Coast of New South Wales, which he runs with his partner, Kasey Chambers. Chambers features in a great story Dingo tells in this interview, about learning to sing harmonies, when I asked him about how he’d developed his singing voice. He has plenty of very interesting things to say as we talk about his new single, ‘Autumn’, which is taken from his upcoming album Nightwire. I actually didn’t get to ask many of the questions I’d prepared because the conversation went in other directions, and when I’m interviewing I’d much rather follow the conversation than stick to a schedule.  To the single, though, as it’s a lovely one: ‘Autumn’ is a love song built around the imagery of the season – leaves falling, and change as something to lean into rather than resist – and at its centre is the idea that you can fall in love again and again with the same person if you stay open to growth.  The song (and forthcoming album) was produced not by Dingo but by the in-demand Jordan Power. ‘The best thing you can do is put the other hats down and just be the best artist that you can be,’ says Dingo when I ask why he handed over the role to someone else.  Of the forthcoming album, Nightwire, Dingo says it’s ‘me being in love with songs – being in love with music, being just so wrapped up in it again and loving it for what it is.’ Indeed, this whole conversation demonstrated to me that he’s a man who truly loves being immersed in music, and who remains intrigued by it and by what’s possible with it. Suffice to say the release of that album can’t come soon enough. Dingo is currently on tour with the great Adam Harvey, then he’ll join the Ian Moss and Troy Cassar-Daley double header (dates below). In the midst of that he’ll be at the Deniliquin Ute Muster (details also below).  26th June – Bligh Park Hotel – South Windsor, NSW #  27th June – The Oaks Hotel – Albion Park Rail, NSW #  28th June – The Royal Hotel – Queanbeyan, NSW #  Friday 28th August – Gympie Music Muster – Gympie, QLD  15th October - Events Centre Kings Theatre, Caloundra QLD *  16th October - Twin Towns - Tweed Heads, NSW *  17th October - Saraton Theatre – Grafton, NSW *  30th October - Commercial Club – Albury, NSW *  31st October - Civic Theatre - Wagga Wagga, NSW *  6th November - Anita’s Theatre – Thirroul, NSW *  7th November - Blue Mountains Theatre & Community Centre – Springwood, NSW *  12th November - The Art House – Wyong, NSW *  13th November – Glasshouse - Port Macquarie, NSW *    # With Adam Harvey / * With Ian Moss & Troy Cassar-Daley  **Tickets on sale now and available via https://www.dingomusicofficial.com/#tour [https://www.dingomusicofficial.com/#tour]   Dingo will also be performing at this year’s Deni Ute Muster, held on Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd October 2026. Tickets are on sale now and available via deniutemuster.com.au [http://www.deniutemuster.com.au/]. Listen to Dingo on Apple Music [https://music.apple.com/au/album/autumn/1891889667?i=1891889668&itscg=30200&itsct=music_box_link&ls=1&app=music&mttnsubad=1891889668&at=1001lryz] Listen to Dingo on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/album/5wAABa9sHsmvAm1aRzO9IA?si=Ft9qQaWEQVOifz7fUMQbhA] Listen to Dingo on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DAZ7Fam65E] For more Sunburnt Country Music: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/sunburntcountrymusic/] Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/sunburntcountrymusic]  YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@sunburntcountrymusic] website [https://sunburntcountrymusic.com/]  Substack [https://sunburntcountrymusic.substack.com] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Amber Lawrence is the boss of her own wild frontier

Suburban Cowgirl, the latest album from beloved country music star Amber Lawrence, topped the Australian album and country album charts open release, and has held its spot. This will be no surprise to anyone who heard the singles leading up to it, including ‘That’s Cowgirl to Me’, which contains the line ‘I am the boss of my own wild frontier’ – which is a true statement when it comes to Lawrence, who has charted her course in country music with hard work, a wonderful songwriting talent and a live show that never fails to leave the audience uplifted. She has constantly chosen to go further into her own wild frontier and leads by example, as a generous performer and artist who lifts up those around her, including emerging artists. If it sounds like I’m a fan – I am. Not because it’s a default position but because I’ve seen Lawrence play live many times, I’ve interviewed her several times, and I love her albums. I also see her at shows around Sydney, so we know each other, well enough that I worked with her on the children’s book that she has released in tandem with the book (this work was in an unpaid advisory capacity, and came about because I work in book publishing and I’m a published author).  The book is divine and as inspiring as her music and shows. It could not have been that without everything that has come before in Lawrence’s life and career, nor without the album that is its reason for existing. Suburban Cowgirl is chock full of anthems and singalong choruses. It has tributes to the joys to be found in everyday life (‘This Suburban Lifetime’ and ‘Smallest Years’) and the gratitude we can practise for that, to love of friends and family and home, and of her fans (‘We Ride At Dawn’, ‘Sing Me Home’). It also features a lovely duet with traditional country artist William Alexander (‘I’ve Got a Hankering’). I talk to Lawrence about all of this in our new interview. It is always wonderful to talk to her. She is one of the greats.  Listen to Suburban Cowgirl on Apple Music [https://music.apple.com/au/album/suburban-cowgirl/1888198843?itscg=30200&itsct=music_box_link&ls=1&app=music&mttnsubad=1888198843&at=1001lryz] Listen to Suburban Cowgirl on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/album/4yLWdaNtIy0pH7a7hjrxlS?si=YrNtu6IYTQikSgibsLFTKQ] Listen to Suburban Cowgirl on YouTube [https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lYgGamFIOXni2O4J8_WhoSt8OBcyohKos&si=I8ETQVHMTcJhonTA] For more Sunburnt Country Music: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/sunburntcountrymusic/] Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/sunburntcountrymusic]  YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@sunburntcountrymusic] website [https://sunburntcountrymusic.com/]  Substack [https://sunburntcountrymusic.substack.com] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Mem Davis on why ‘It’s All Just Love’

Mem Davis [https://memdavis.com/] is a singer, songwriter and – as I found out during this interview – a book editor from the south coast of New South Wales, although she’s currently not there, because she and partner Neil have been travelling Australia in a caravan since September last year, performing as the Mem Davis Duo along the way, with their elderly Boston terrier in tow. The musical life was not one Davis thought she would be leading. As she tells me, she spent years believing she couldn’t sing, having been told so by people close to her. It wasn’t until she was in her twenties that she booked a singing lesson and discovered that, as she says, ‘[e]verything I believed about myself was essentially thrown out the window’.  She has been writing and performing ever since, though the happier songs, she notes, only arrived in her late thirties.  ‘I realised music didn’t have to be therapy,’ she says. Davis’s latest single, ‘It’s All Just Love’, was produced by Liam Kennedy-Clark, a multi-instrumentalist and, as half of Wicker Suite, a Golden Guitar winner. The song uses bees as a central metaphor for community and the balance between individual responsibility and collective support.  Davis attended the CMAA Academy of Country Music and writes regularly at the DAG songwriting retreat, where she has made connections she credits as among the most valuable of her career, a co-write with Luke O'Shea being a particular highlight. A second single, recorded with Kennedy-Clark, is due later in the year, with an album the eventual goal. At the time of recording the interview, Davis and Neil were based in Tamworth, preparing to head to the Northern Rivers. There are shows coming up, including one for the winter solstice in Uralla. Details at memdavis.com [https://memdavis.com/]. Listen to ‘It’s All Just Love’ on Apple Music [https://music.apple.com/au/album/its-all-just-love/1893000151?i=1893000153&itscg=30200&itsct=music_box_link&ls=1&app=music&mttnsubad=1893000153&at=1001lryz] Listen to ‘It’s All Just Love’ on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/track/0tD32RdYpDEonESKGHxrXI?si=85139c7e3fa4451d] Listen to ‘It’s All Just Love’ on YouTube [https://youtu.be/QJh2Ud7GQH0?si=ElMkIcqmzefTvtrg] For more Sunburnt Country Music: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/sunburntcountrymusic/] Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/sunburntcountrymusic]  YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@sunburntcountrymusic] website [https://sunburntcountrymusic.com/]  Substack [https://sunburntcountrymusic.substack.com] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Amy Solylo on being your own biggest red flag

Some artists arrive with a statement – or a splash, as you prefer – and it’s immediately clear that it’s worth paying attention to them because whatever comes next is likely to be interesting. As is the case with Sydney country-pop artist Amy Solylo [https://www.amysolylo.com/]. Solylo has released one single, ‘He Wants Me (Dead)’ – and also an acoustic version of the song – and its combination of tongue-in-cheek self-awareness and whimsy offers something different and intriguing. The same combination is there when Solylo performs live, as she’s been doing a fair bit lately at Sydney country music institution Jolene’s, and it’s also clear that she is a born entertainer. As Solylo tells me in this new interview, the single is about being ‘your own biggest red flag’ and came about after she was blocked across all platforms by an ex. Solylo found one remaining avenue of communication – WhatsApp – and used it. The response she received was firm and clear … so she went home and wrote the song.  Solylo came to songwriting through a childhood love of reading, and to music through early singing lessons and a hot pink guitar. It turned out that while she’s right-handed at everything else, she can only play guitar left-handed and, as leftie guitarists know, it’s not as easy to find instruments! (Although I can attest that she now has a lovely red guitar, as I’ve seen her playing it live.) It was a great pleasure to chat to Solylo and I look forward to hearing what she releases next – after she’s embarked on her next trip to Nashville, and all the adventure that promises. Listen to ‘He Wants Me (Dead)’ on Apple Music [https://music.apple.com/au/artist/amy-solylo/1799180644?itscg=30200&itsct=music_box_link&ls=1&app=music&mttnsubad=1799180644&at=1001lryz] Listen to ‘He Wants Me (Dead)’ on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/artist/3h5natRMZ8YBVaUiwgoLTx?si=V57ZmK-iRxKhwPm0Lo8Sww] Listen to ‘He Wants Me (Dead)’ on YouTube [https://youtu.be/XXs5yBSvDkw?si=Sk8y6cqcQK0kiNO3] For more Sunburnt Country Music: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/sunburntcountrymusic/] Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/sunburntcountrymusic]  YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@sunburntcountrymusic] website [https://sunburntcountrymusic.com/]  Substack [https://sunburntcountrymusic.substack.com] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.